Deadeye - The Unlikely Tale of Fools and HeroesEdguy - Nobody's Hero
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King
Ayreon - Sail Away to Avalon
Anthrax - Medusa
Alter Bridge - Pawns & Kings
Trivium - The Phalanx
Disturbed - The Brave and the Bold
First Impression - Outside of a couple songs, this was actually more enjoyable than I was anticipating.
Alright, starting off with a band that I’ve seen touted around by various friends for some time, but never really got around to listening to, Edguy. This song Nobody’s Hero, is actually a good bit of fun. I still don’t like Tobias’ vocals much. His vibrato is just plain annoying. It’s the same problem I have with his Avantasia project. Either way, the music here is fun and works well enough that I can mostly overlook the vocals and just enjoy the song for what it is. Next is the first of the two songs I was referring to in my first impression. A7X’s Hail to the King album was a big steaming turd in comparison to the rest of their albums. I believe a lot of the problem with the album and by extension this song is their choice of drummer for the album. I mean if they wanted someone to drum like Meg White, why not just get Meg White. At any rate, I’m fairly confident the drummer holds the band back from writing better songs. I mean how did the band have the audacity to follow up The Rev and Mike Portnoy with this guy? It’s almost insulting….anyway I digress. Also the song is 5 minutes long and feels about 5 minutes too long
Next up is Sail Away to Avalon and despite Cyril’s comment about the song earlier, I actually really like this song and the album it’s from. I mean, I do find it kind of funny that Arjen got the guy from Golden Earring to do the vocals on this song. His vocals are quite out of place in music like this. The female vocals work much better in this song. Overall it’s an enjoyable song for me….maybe it’s just nostalgia on my part, since when I first heard Ayreon back in 1999 this album and Into the Electric Castle were basically it. I mean, yeah Actual Fantasy was around, but I didn’t listen to it back then. Anyway, moving on to Medusa. I actually like this Anthrax track much better than the one sent in the last round. I even kind of like Joey Belladonna’s vocals here, which is saying something since I mostly don’t like him. I also like the driving rhythm of this song, it’s kind of unique. Next we get to my favorite track on the EP, Pawns & Kings. I’ve always liked Alter Bridge, but I hadn’t listened to this song yet. Probably because it’s only available as a single right now and I don’t really care to listen to singles, but I’m glad you sent it to me and forced me to listen
Everything enjoyable about this band is still here in this song. I still think the combination of Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti is brilliant. They work well together musically/vocally. And oh man does that little instrumental breakdown in the middle hit hard! And of course Tremonti’s great lead work. This track is kind of a roller coaster ride and I love it. The Phalanx is next and from another album that I have, but haven’t gotten around to yet. It sounds like Trivium is back with more great metal though. I mean after a couple of dud albums, Vengeance Falls and Silence in the Snow, I’m glad their 2 albums after were good and this one seems like it’s just as good. I think Matt Heafy has been learning a lot from as many people as possible over the last 5 years or so and really expanding his musical knowledge and it’s really shown lately. Lastly we have the 2nd of the songs referred to in my first impression, The Brave and the Bold, however after multiple listens I’ve actually grown to enjoy the song a fair amount. It isn’t a great song, mind you, but enjoyable. I just wish their vocalist would just stop with the stupid sounds he makes. He just can’t help himself. There’s a reason Down With the Sickness is a meme….
Song Score - 7.4/10
As far as the story goes, I always enjoy a good mythological story. This one being the battle against Medusa works for me. Perhaps a bit light on content and a little bit confusing in parts, I do like the story of a nobody rising up to become the hero. Overall I think it works OK even though some of the lyrics don’t quite fit. Not the best of your EP stories so far.
Story Score - 7/10 +1 for Bonus theme
Now the flow is actually fairly decent being that it’s a Spotify playlist again. It seems you were trying to be careful with the songs to make sure they aren’t too jarring back to back. Having said that, it could use a bit of help with some edits. Like the transition between Hail to the King and Sail Away to Avalon was a little harsh. Same could be said of the transition into Medusa. Just some small tweaks and this EP could have flowed almost perfectly. As it is, it doesn’t.
Flow Score - 6/10
Overall Score - 21.4/30
Topic: Puppies (Re)Discovery EP Roulette V.4 (The Final Art!) (Read 30917 times)
